Solskjaer to make future decision on attacker after ‘broken promise’
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will make a decision on the future of one of Manchester United’s starlets this week after reportedly going back on a transfer promise.
United signed Facundo Pellistri from Uruguayan side Penarol in last year’s summer transfer window. They paid £9m for the 19-year-old with United supposedly promising to include the attacker in their first-team “bubble”.
However, after appearing in six Premier League 2 outings, United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer thought it best to progress his development elsewhere. And in January Pellistri put pen to paper on a loan switch to Spanish side Deportivo Alaves.
The right winger made 12 appearances in LaLiga and impressed Alaves sufficiently for them to want him back next season.
According to Noticias de Alava, the Spanish club are keen to re-sign the attacker on loan again.
Last month Calciomercato claimed Alaves officials had agreed to the loan extension, as long as they secured their top-flight status first. Alaves did that with two wins from their last three matches.
It is claimed that United are “planning to discuss” their pathway for Pellistri this week. Solskjaer must decide whether another loan spell will benefit the Montevideo-born forward, or whether he comes back into their Under-23 set-up or the first team.
The Spanish outlet report that “everything suggests” another loan spell is likely. They also suggest that Solskjaer appears to have broken his transfer promise over the player.
The claim is that Solskjaer promised Penarol chiefs that Pellistri would go “straight into the first team”.
Of course Pellistri did not feature for the first team, in fact he was nowhere near the squad and was loaned out.
Their dealings with United have apparently left a sour taste in the mouth of officials at Penarol.
According to Penarol vice-president Rodolfo Cantino, United refused a loan back to the Uruguayan side.
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Pellistri wanted ‘more time’
“Of course we asked for it [a loan deal],” Cantino told Uruguayan outlet Referi in October.
“We tried in every way but they argued that they wanted the player now. It’s normal, when an European club buy a player, they travel immediately.”
The Daily Mirror also reports club secretary Evaristo Gonzalez was told the winger would go “straight into the first team” at Old Trafford.
Reflecting on his short time at United, Pellistri said in March he wanted more time to settle at Old Trafford.
“I am very happy despite the rapid changes, faster than I imagined,” Pellistri told ESPN South America.
“I was hoping to have a little more time in Manchester. But on the club’s side they have organised what to do with each player.”
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